Bill to Aid Tobacco Farmers Hinges
On a Windfall for Landowners

By

Vanessa O'Connell Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Updated Aug. 31, 2004 12:01 a.m. ET

When Congress after Labor Day takes up landmark legislation that would give the Food and Drug Administration regulatory control over cigarettes, the linchpin of a potential deal is a plan to aid struggling tobacco farmers.

But the negotiations could stumble on one element of the plan: Much of the aid is going to millionaires, country clubs and city dwellers far removed from leaf, field or barn. They would become beneficiaries because they hold a tobacco quota, or allotment, that is attached to the land they own and permits...